Interlocking post construction for rack body



Nov. 28, 1961 .1. J. BLACK 3,010,755

INTERLOCKING POST CONSTRUCTIQN FOR RACK BODY Filed April 4, 1960 2Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTOENEYS.

Nov. 28, 1961 J. J. BLACK INTERLOCKING POST CONSTRUCTION FOR RACK BODYFiled April 4, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M J v WW//////// 9 a ,2 l 3 UnitedStates Patent 3,010,755 INTERLOCKING POST CONSTRUCTION FOR RACK BODYJames J. Black, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Trailmohiie Inc.,Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 4, 1960, Ser. No.19,907 3 Claims. (Cl. 29628) This invention relates to a constructionfor removable side sections, commonly called racks, for freightvehicles. More particularly, it relates to a construction for the cornerposts of racks whereby adjoining racks are enabled to interlock with oneanother to form a relatively rigid, unitary rack body for the vehicle.

For the sake of description, the invention is primarily disclosedhereinafter in relation to roadway freight vehicles and in particular tosemi-trailers, but it will be understood that the invention is notlimited thereto and that it is also suited for use on railroad car rackbodies as well as for other freight-carrying vehicles.

Racks are typically utilized in conjunction with, for example, fiatsemi-trailers, to provide removable side and end walls for the trailer.The individual racks are comprised of spaced posts between which extendenclosure forming means, which may be, for example, slats or panels. Theracks are small enough in size and weight to constitute handleablesectional units so that they can be erected on the trailer bed by asingle man. The bed is provided with spaced sockets along its sides andends for receiving downwardly projecting lower ends of the rack posts.By engaging the projecting portions of the posts of a rack in thesesockets, the rack is held in upright position as a sectional wall unit,and by thus erecting a series of racks in edge-to-edge relation, thevehicle may be provided with side and end walls.

When the racks are in place, and when the vehicle is provided with a topcover or roof, the vehicle is adapted to carry loads as a container orvan; when the racks are removed, the vehicle may be used to transportheavy or bulky loads not requiring enclosed shipment. Convenientremovability of racks is therefore desirable from the standpoint ofvehicle versatility and usefulness.

In order to provide as rigid and as sturdy a vehicle wall section orunit as is consistent with 'light weight and convenient removability,various means of interconnecting adjacent racks have been employed,ranging from the simple expedient of tying the racks together, tovarious sorts of hook and eye connections for the rack corner posts.

The present invention is a rack corner post construction wherebyadjoining racks may be erected on a bed in interconnection with oneanother to form a strong, nearly unitary, rack body construction, whichrequires no separate connecting means.

Reduced to its fundamentals, the present invention is a rack having acorner post at one vertical edge which is provided with flangesextending outwardly in the plane of the rack, the flanges defining achannel in the post, and having a corner post along its other oropposite vertical edge which is provided with a vertical tonguereceivable in the channel of the corner post of an adjacent rack.Otherwise put, the present invention is a corner post constructionproviding a tongue at one end of the rack and a groove at the other end,whereby rack interconnection along substantially the entire height ofthe rack may be established.

In contrast to previous rack connectors, the present invention, by thecorner post construction described, provides 'a relatively weatherproof, water tight connection between racks forming a vehicle body wall.Inserted in the groove of an adjacent rack, the tongue 'ice forms asealed vertical joint between the racks, extending from the vehicle bedto the top of the rack.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the corner posts comprisehollow extruded aluminum members. The channeled, or grooved, corner posthas spaced flanges extending outwardly from a hollow, rigid boxlike webportion. The other corner post, which may be called the tongue cornerpost, has a back portion equal in width to the outside width of the webof the groove post. From this back portion, which is preferably hollow,a tongue extends in the general plane of the rack, of width such thatwhich may be easily received in the grooved corner post of an adjoiningrack. Between the corner posts of the rack extend area enclosing meanswhich, in the preferred embodiment, comprise flat aluminum panelssecured to the corner posts so as to pro vide a generally smooth anduniform surface on the interior side of the vehicle wall. Reinforcingframe members, which may comprise extruded aluminum channels, arepreferably connected between the corner posts to generally rigidify andintegrate the structure.

The corner posts of the preferred embodiment extend below the lower edgeof the rack panel, so that theymay be received in sockets at the edge ofthe vehicle bed. The sockets position and maintain the racks in properalignment with one another, holding the interconnected tongue and grooveposts of adjoining racks in engaged relationship until the posts arelifted out of the sockets to dismantle the rack body. The two adjacentinterconnected corner posts, thus held in engagement by the socket intowhich their lower portions extend, behave as a relatively rigid singlepost member by reason of their engagement along their entire verticalextent. In this manner, the racks remain securely interconnected underthe vibration and relative strain of road travel, the sockets holdingthe racks from fore and aft movement and the tongue and groove cornerpost interlock holding the racks from relative transverse motion.Furthermore, the joint renders the cargo inside quite safe from rain,road dust and wind.

A more complete description of the invention may be made by reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a flat semi-trailer showing partialside walls erected from racks embodying the principles of thisinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary horizontal section through interlocked cornerposts of adjoining racks, showing the preferred construction of thecorner posts and the manner in which the tongue of one post is receivedin the groove of an adjoining post, and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section through the downwardlyprojecting extensions of interlocked corner posts of adjoining racks,showing the manner in which the posts are maintained in engagedrelationship by the bed socket in which they are inserted.

In FIGURE 1 is shown a generally conventional flat semi-trailer,designated by 10, having a rectangular bed 11 defined by side edges12-12., a rear edge 13, and a front edge. Partial side walls 14 and 15are shown extending upwardly from the side edges of the bed. These walls14 and 15 are erected from a series of individual sectional units orracks 16.

In the preferred embodiment shown, the individual racks are small enoughto be manageable by a single man, so that a flat trailer can be quicklyconverted to an open top van. Each rack has corner posts at its twovertical edges 17 embodying the principles of this invention. Apart fromthe corner post construction, which is described more fully hereinafter,the construction of the rack is generally conventional. As a typicalexample of the rack construction, flat panels 18 may be secured to thecorner posts of the rack to provide a smooth interior wall surface. Therack panels 18 may be provided with hand grips 19 whereby the racks canbe lifted and set in place on the bed.

Adjacent the edges of the trailer bed 11 are provided sockets 21. Thesesockets may be set in the bed or, as shown, be secured to the edge ofthe bed. They are spaced at intervals corresponding to the spacing ofthe two corner posts of each rack, so that they can receive thedownwardly projecting lower ends of the corner posts, 'whereby theysupport the racks in vertical position.

At the front of the trailer it is desirable, although not necessary,that there be a permanent, non-removable front wall or nose 22, toprovide a wind shield. This .edge with a corner post forming avertically extending channel. In the drawings a preferred postconstruction is shown in which the grooveis provided by corner post 24and the tongue by corner post 25. Although only the adjoining cornerpost sections of a left rack 27 and a right rack 28 are shown, it willbe appreciated that each rack is provided on its opposite edges withboth a tongue corner post and a groove corner post.

The corner posts 24 and are preferably extruded in aluminum for strengthand lightness. Groove post 24' has spaced flanges 29-29 extendingoutwardly in the general plane of the rack from a web portion 31.Prefera-bly but not necessarily the web or back portion 31 of strengthand lightness.

Tongue channel 25 has a tongue 33 of width whereby it may be snugly butnot forcibly received by groove channel 24. The tongue projectsforwardly from a rear portion 34 which is generally similar in size tothe boxportion 32 of post 24, and which is preferably hollow. Attachmentof the corner posts to the racks 27 and 28 is conventional and is notshown in detail.

Although the post construction shown is preferred, it will beappreciated that other post constructions which provide a tongue andgroove rack seal are within the scope of the invention.

The manner in which the posts are held in engagement by the bed sockets21 is shown in FIGURE 3. The side rail 36 of the bed is provided withthe U-shaped sockets 21 at spaced intervals, the sockets being aflixedto the bed by rivets 37 or the like. The lower ends of both corner posts24 and 25 are insented in a single socket, whereby the panels areprevented from becoming disengaged. The socket should be long enough,however, to permit the tongue to slide or shift slightly with respect tothe groove while still remaining engaged therein, to adjust to slightbed curvature or sag, as might result from various loading conditions.

The tongue and groove connection between the corner posts in accordancewith this invention is an elfective seal to wind, dust, road splash andrain, does not open in transit, and provides a rack body which can beeasily erected and dismantled without the necessity of engaging hooks orfastenings.

(the channel comprises a hollow box-like section 32 for 7 Havingdescribed my invention, I claim:

1. A removable rack for a freight vehicle comprising, a generallyrectangular panel, means forming a vertically extending tongue at oneside of said panel, means forming a vertically extending groove at theopposite side of said panel, portions of both said tongue forming meansand said groove forming means extending downwardly below the lower edgeof said panel, said downwardly extending portions being adapted to bereceived in cooperating sockets provided by the bed of said vehicle,whereby when the tongue of one rack is engaged with the groove of asimilar adjacent rack and said downwardly projecting portions arereceived in a common socket, a vertical joint between said racks isformed.

2. A removable sectional wall unit for a freight vehicle comprising, avertical post at each vertical marginal edge, area-enclosing meansextending between said posts and connected thereto, the lower ends ofsaid posts projecting downwardly below said area-enclosing means andbeing adapted to be received in cooperating sockets provided by the bedof the vehicle, one of said posts having a web disposed perpendicularlyto the plane of said wall unit and two spaced parallel flanges extendingoutwardly from said web in the plane of said wall unit, said flanges andweb defining a vertical groove at the edge of said wall unit, the otherof said posts having a parallel-sided tongue extending outwardly in theplane of said wall unit, said tongue having a width slightly less thanthe width of said groove, whereby when the tongue of one wall unit isengaged in the groove of a similar adjacent wall unit and the downwardlyprojecting ends of the adjacent posts are received in a common socket, avertical seal between said Wall units is formed, the common socketpositively holding the adjacent posts of the wall units in interfittingrelationship against relative longitudinal movement tending to causegapping between them and the groove holding the tongue against relativetransverse movement.

3. A removable sectional wall unit for a freight vehicle comprising, ahollow, vertical post at each side, each said post having a generallyrectangular horizontal cross-section, a flat panel extending betweensaid posts and marginally connected thereto, the lower ends of saidposts projecting downwardly below said panel and being adapted to bereceived in cooperating sockets provided by the bed of the vehicle, oneof said posts having two spaced, parallel flanges extending outwardlytherefrom in the plane of said wall unit, said flanges defining avertical groove at the edge of said wall unit, the other of said postshaving a tongue extending outwardly in the plane of said wall unit, saidtongue having a width slightly less than the width of said groove,whereby when the tongue of one wall unit is engaged with the groove of asimilar adjacent wall unit and the downwardly projecting ends of theadjacent posts are received in a common socket, a vertical seal betweensaid wall units is formed, the socket positively holding the adjacentposts in interfitting relationship against relative longitudinalmovement and the groove holding the tongue against relative transversemovement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS484,413 Espitallier Oct. 18, 1892 2,579,774 Akey Dec. 25, 1951 2,676,054Pasin Apr. 20, 1 954 2,717,093 Mautner Sept. 6, 1955

